


there's only four colors in twister, bro

by Senatsu



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, IN SPACE, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, background pairings: keith/lance, kids having fun playing games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 17:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8111617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Senatsu/pseuds/Senatsu
Summary: "Okay, that's it, Coran and Allura have had the upper hand for too long with these Altean games, it's time for an Earthling game!"Hunk sighs, dejectedly pushing a playing piece around on the table. "I mean, not that I'm disagreeing with the notion or anything, but Lance, we don't exactly have, like, a closet full of board games to pick from. Er, well, we do, but it's their board games, which is what you're trying to avoid, so I mean, less than helpful here.""Hunk, I appreciate you always being the voice of reason, buddy, really, I do, every team has to have a pragmatist or whatever, but like, c'mon dude, we're in a room full of how many smart people here? I'm pretty sure we can figure out how to make our own with what we got. With your building brawn, Pidge's tech-guru-hood, and my genius and good looks, we'll have a stack of replica games faster than you can say 'Alteans probably suck at poker.'"





	

"Okay, that's it, Coran and Allura have had the upper hand for too long with these Altean games, it's time for an Earthling game!"

Hunk sighs, dejectedly pushing a playing piece around on the table. "I mean, not that I'm disagreeing with the notion or anything, but Lance, we don't exactly have, like, a closet full of board games to pick from." He pauses and then amends, "Er, well, we do, but it's _their_ board games, which is what you're trying to avoid, so I mean, less than helpful here."

"Hunk, I appreciate you always being the voice of reason, buddy, really, I do, every team has to have a pragmatist or whatever, but like, c'mon dude, we're in a room full of how many smart people here?" Lance makes a show of counting every head in the room (including his own) with the blatant exception of Keith's. Ignoring the red paladin's squawk of indignation, he continues, "I'm _pretty sure_ we can figure out how to make our own with what we got." He grins and gestures emphatically. "With your building brawn, Pidge's tech-guru-hood, and my genius and good looks, we'll have a stack of replica games faster than you can say 'Alteans probably suck at poker.'"

"I beg your pardon?" Allura interjects. She may not yet know what poker is, but the insult is clear enough.

Lance quirks an eyebrow at her. "Allura, is Coran good at lying?"

"Well, not particularly, but--"

Lance turns to Shiro. "Shiro, is Allura good at lying?"

Shiro doesn't say anything, but the sheepish-apologetic expression on his face is answer enough, really - more than enough to provoke Allura into pouting.

Lance plants his palms on the table. "I rest my case," he says, not bothering to explain anything further to either Altean. "SO. Next order of business: what games?"

"Scrabble," says Pidge immediately.

Lance gives them a withering look. "Pidge, we were lucky enough to ditch school and leave it light-years behind us and you want to play a _spelling_ game?"

Pidge scowls and adjusts their glasses. "Don't be hatin' just because you have the vocabulary of a rock."

"That's an insult to rocks, Pidge," says Keith. "People at least carve all sorts of interesting writing into rocks."

"I don't wanna hear that from the guy who doesn't actually even know what 'bonding' is!"

"What do you mean, I don't know what 'bonding' is?!"

"Dude. You walked up to your lion and SHOUTED 'I'm bonding with you' at it! That is literally _not how that works_."

"Wh--how did you--"

Lance smirks. "Your comm was on at the time, pal, don't look at me." He turns back to the others, then, leaving Keith to sit and stew and slowly turn a bright and beautiful vermilion. "Okay, _moving on_ , what can we play that doesn't feel like something straight outta freaking English class?"

"Monopoly?" Shiro offers.

Lance looks pained. "Shiro. Bro. My man. Please tell me that you're only saying that with such genuine sincerity because you have never, in fact, in your entire life actually _played_ Monopoly."

Shiro startles. "You... don't like Monopoly?"

"Every game of Monopoly I have ever been forced into lasted like eighty hours and dissolved into bloodshed by the end of it." Shiro looks like he wants to inquire exactly who Lance was playing Monopoly with, but Lance again breezes on ahead. “Hunk. C’mon, help me out here.”

“Jenga? Sorry? Don’t Spill the Beans?” Hunk punctuates each suggestion by licking off a finger. “Oh, and Clue! I always loved Clue! Not Operation, though, please.” He shudders. “I can’t believe someone came up with that and called it a GAME, it was _so stressful._ ”

Lance puts a forefinger and thumb to his chin, brow scrunched in serious thought. “Hmm, hmm, okay I’m not entirely sure about our ability to replicate a murder mystery game just yet, and dude, Operation was the worst, that buzzer sound still haunts my nightmares. But those first three are exactly the kind of good stuff I’m looking for!” Lance points at Pidge. “Hey Squirt, take notes!”

“ _Oh my God,_ Lance, we’ve been over this! Don’t call me ‘Squirt’ or I will turn your entire wardrobe the most spectacularly horrendous shade of orange you’ve ever had the displeasure of laying eyes on.” Even so, somehow Pidge is already actually making a list on one of their many, many gadgets, fingers clicking away at approximately two hundred miles an hour.

“I say it with the utmost affection, it’s not my fault you’re completely immune to my charms.”

“What charms.”

Before Lance has the chance to defend his honor, however, an unexpected voice mumbles “Battleship” from off to the side. Lance immediately turns to Keith, who is no longer quite so vermillion, and places a solemn hand on his shoulder. “That was actually totally not terrible at all, Keith. Thank you.”

Keith offers him something that attempts to be a smile but wobbles oddly at the edges and turns into something trapped like a cornered animal between ‘pleased’ and _‘how do I face, what even are muscles, I work out the rest of me not the corners of my mouth.’_

Lance stares at Keith for just slightly longer than necessary, finally clearing his throat and taking pity on the poor mullet child by giving him an awkward pat on the head. "Right, so, Battleship, another excellent classic!" Lance suddenly grins like a feral cat and snaps his fingers. "Aaand speaking of classics, I'm feeling a little inspired by the Voltron rainbow so howsabout Twister? Eh? Eh?"

Pidge groans. "You _would_ like that, wouldn't you. You're like a walking, talking pipe cleaner."

Lance removes his hand from Keith's head (and everyone else pretends for Keith's sake that they don't notice Keith touching his hair gingerly afterwards in some kind of pleased disbelief) and points accusingly at Pidge. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?"!

"Okay, so you're not quite that fuzzy, but you're long and ridiculously bendy so the comparison still holds water." Pidge snorts and adds, "'Specially since that's your element anyway."

"Also, not to be pedantic," says Hunk with a raised hand, preparing to be pedantic, "but Lance - Voltron rainbow? - there's no black dots - sorry, Shiro - or, well, purple. Whichever of those we'd be using. There's only four colors in Twister, bro."

"First of all, I said _inspired_ by the Voltron rainbow, Hunk, and second of all, no one ever said we had to make _exact_ replicas. We can totally have black dots in Twister. Or purple. It's called 'artistic license!'" Hunk looks like he wants to argue the point, but Lance blazes on ahead. Again. "Also, we have some very important ground rules to lay down, here, taking into consideration the _alien_ situation we find ourselves in." He points sternly at both Allura and Coran. "Like _no_ shapeshifting. You work with what you got or yoooooou're out!" He says the last part like an umpire, inspiring synchronized wincing around the table at the sudden change in volume.

Lance could easily turn synchronized wincing into a spectator sport.

Allura huffs indignantly. "Alteans don't make use of our shapeshifting abilities to cheat or set ourselves to an advantage in game and sport, Lance, and frankly I'm offended that you would imply as much."

Lance holds up his hands placatingly, the picture of innocence. "You can't blame me for taking precautions, Allura, gotta account for all the variables! Games get dirty sometimes, y'know?"

Hunk snorts. "Yeah, you would know, Lance."

Lance shoots a glare at his best pal. "Excuse me?! I never broke the rules!"

Hunk crosses his arms and glances at Pidge, one eyebrow raised. "Yeah, but boy are you fond of bending them."

Pidge shares Hunk's look. "And finding loopholes."

"And changing th--"

"Okay, okay, shut it right this second, I've got dirt on both of you and I'm not afraid to share it with the whole squad right here, right now!"

Pidge and Hunk slouch in their seats simultaneously.

"It's not like we don't have any dirt on _you_ ," Pidge mutters darkly, but offers no further sass on the subject of Lance's _checkered_ history with games. 

"Now that the peanut gallery is done with the unwanted MST3K'ing, back to business? Thanks. So, anyway, Twister. Easy enough, right? We just need a big mat of some kind and some way to put giant colored dots on it, plus a spinner!"

"I could make a digital spinner," Pidge offers.

Lance frowns thoughtfully, scratching his chin, pacing in a small, tight circle. "It's not a bad idea and I'm sure you could whip it up in like two seconds, but also, there's just something... like... about flicking the actual spinner with your finger, y'know? Like it's a totally vital part of the Twister experience! Allura and Coran gotta try it firsthand."

Hunk bobs his head in agreement. "It's true. The little whack and the sound and all that, I totally getcha. It's like. Not a texture thing, but. A sensory thing? Something like that. An actual spinner shouldn't be that hard, really. I'm sure Pidge and I can cobble something together easy."

Lance gives them both a look. "Just please don't make a spinner that can explode."

Pidge turns red. "Oh, for--you make a questionable fuel modification to a pod _one time_..."

"Okay, team time! Pidge, Hunk, you're on spinner duty. Allura, you can help me rustle up something to make the dots with. Shiro, you and Coran go get us a mat, about... mmm... five foot by six foot, I think? Well, actually, we're gonna be adding an extra row of dots for black-slash-purple, so maybe a little bigger? Wait, if we add dots we have to shrink the dots so people can actually still reach, right? So--"

Hunk laughs and interrupts to save Lance from his self-imposed math circles. "Yeah, keep the mat the same size and we'll figure out what size the dots should be while we're working on the spinner."

Lance lays a grateful hand on Hunk's shoulder. "Bless you, my Hangel."

Keith stares blankly up at Lance, speaking for the first time in many minutes. "What on earth is a hangel?"

Pidge gives Keith a sympathetic pat on the back. "It's like angel but with an H for Hunk at the beginning. Don't worry, most people can't speak Lanceish. Hunk and I just spent way too much time with him. _Wayyy too much time._ "

"I'm going to ignore those terribly hurtful words, Pidge, and point out that you like me just the way I am." Lance spreads out his hands wide, grinning. "Everybody understand their orders?" There is a mixed assortment of grumbling and affirmation, and Lance brings his hands together in a magnificently loud clap. "AAAAAND BREAK!"

"Wait," says Keith, belatedly realizing something as everyone else files out of the room. "You didn't give me anything to do!"

Lance appears to be on the verge of making some wisecrack in response, but there is something both unusually vulnerable and unusually pleading in the way Keith says it, and dangit, Lance just can't do it, it'd be like kicking a puppy. He sighs. "All right, pretty boy, you're on dot duty with me. Just don't get in the way of my mad artistic skills, capiche?"

They both pretend not to be embarrassed at the fact that it takes all of five seconds for Keith to go from his seat at the table to Lance's side.

"I wasn't gonna leave you behind, dummy," Lance mumbles, bumping his shoulder against Keith's briefly before withdrawing, hands shoved in his jacket pockets. "Geez, you wanna hang out that bad?"

"Yeah," says Keith.

There's a long, awkward silence, all of Lance's comebacks dying before they can even fully form, and then in a moment of unspoken agreement, the two of them sprint forward to catch up to Allura like nothing happened.

* * *

 

Hours later, after an assortment of shenanigans in the creation mostly led by Lance, Pidge, and Hunk, the board and spinner are ready to go, and the seven of them waste no time in putting their work to good use.

By the third-out-of-fifth time that Lance wobbles over the tangled heap beneath him in a victorious bridge position, however, everyone is groaning.

"Pipe cleaner," grumbles Pidge in an echo of their earlier sentiment, who would be at the bottom of the pile if Shiro hadn't strategically nudged them out of the way.

"I can't believe _Allura_ didn't totally kick your butt," adds Hunk, himself flopped on his side next to everyone else.

Allura makes a frustrated sound from on top of Shiro and beneath Keith. "Worry not, Hunk. I _will._ He will not reign as champion for long!"

"What can I say? I have a gift!" Lance tells them, grinning wide, lifting one hand off the mat with two fingers raised in a 'victory' sign.

Keith looks up at him from the top of the pile, eyebrow raised, mouth quirking. "Behold, the Really Amazing Bendy Guy."

Lance scowls at him. "Don't hate just cause you suck at Twister, Keith."

"I do _not_ suck at Twister, I almost had you last game, don't you even--"

"Ooo, _almost_ , wow, did that start counting outside of horseshoes?"

Pidge kicks Lance's ankle and the boy suddenly joins the paladins-plus-princess heap with a loud squawk. "Will you stop being annoying for _two seconds_ , holy sh--" they begin, but their would-be epithet is cut off by a very pointed throat-clearing sound from Shiro.

"Language, Pidge."

"I've barely said anything all day, Shiro, c'mon!"

"Yeah, but you gotta admit you slip up more than the rest of us combined," says Hunk, helpful as ever. "I mean, geez, have you _heard_ Lance when he gets going? 'Cheese and crackers,' 'son of a monkey,' 'cotton-picking heck...'"

"How did a Pidge scolding session turn into picking on me?!" Lance cries in protest. "Those are all perfectly valid expressions of frustration, thank you very much!"

"Dude, just because they're valid doesn't mean you don't talk like someone from like two decades ago."

"It's cute, though," says Keith, and everyone stops dead, and Keith immediately looks like he regrets ever having been born with a mouth.

But then Pidge chimes in with "Did you hit your head, Keith?" and Hunk laughs and everyone suddenly falls back into bickering like nothing ever happened, except for maybe Lance, who is discreetly pretending that he's red because his head had been hanging upside down and not because Keith is an idiot who says weird things at weird times.

**Author's Note:**

> My explanation for this is a whole lot of question marks 
> 
> I wanted to publish SOMETHING Voltron and I've got like five other ideas and none of them are short so here we are
> 
> also, say hi on tumblr at laurelsing-abc, new friends are always welcome!


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